As we're moving to a world where the social contract has broken down and only those who contribute to the asset should be able to use it, we should demand 10p from every scabby mutt or drunken clubber who decides to use them.

I wrote the first comment. Many reasons why I think this: stats are misleading as they count bikes docked in AND out, so they're only half as popular as publicised. Scheme relies strongly on the sponsor & them not pulling out. And all the stations I see are hardly used at all. Very rare I see one bike missing.

This announcement helps 1 and 2, though there is some way to go on getting decent coverage at all the major terminii. If Boris is to be believed, he has aspirations for 3, though I don't expect to see the scheme hit SE4 any time soon. More likely extensions into the Isle of Dogs and Stratford in time for 2012.

Oh, and Anon who thinks the bikes are never used. Check the real time map info on the TfL site: https://web.barclayscyclehire.tfl.gov.uk/maps

Bike scheme seems very popular to me. When it 1st started I used to see 2-3 people perhaps on Boris bikes, per day. Now it's more like 20-30, I pass at least 10 in the morning as I cycle to work... I should think like the schemes in Barcelona and Paris it'll go from srtength to strength, especially if Bob Crow continues to cause hassle on the Tube and ticket prices continue to spiral.

I think that if the scheme is ever extended outside of zone 1 and into the commuter zone, it will become wildly popular.

It is simple maths: as it stands the cheapest way of getting about is £664 a year for a bus pass. Many people pay a great deal more than that (£1,032) for a zone 1 and 2 annual pass.

Boris bike if used judiciously could be a great money saver. Moreover, they solve the problem of security and reliability that normally discourage would be cycling commuters.

If there were some proper dedicated cycle paths into the City and West End, they would address the third great bugbear - safety. If they had a load of showers and a personal locker conveniently located uptown a city worker might turn up looking spruce and lively for work rather than haggard and frazzled. I can dream!

The scheme is in its infancy and has benefitted greatly from avoiding some of the bigger problems encoutered elsewhere. I am mightily impressed that so few bikes have been pinched.

The scheme has great potential if the government are really serious about weaning folk off motorised transport and onto their own pedal power.

I shall observe the next phase with interest. Many a tourist casts an envious eye upon the the bikes when UK bank account holding classes are out and about.

Matt-Z: As I pointed out earlier, you have to take the Barclayscyclehire stats with a very large pinch of salt. It counts bikes in AND out, so halve the stats and then see if it's as popular as you think it is! And as far as the previous comment goes, if we're comparing this to a £664 bus pass, why not just buy your own bike?! This is why in my opinion the scheme is dead in the water.

I appreciate that counting bikes in and out is slightly misleading, but that wasn't my point.

If you click on each docking station on the map, it shows the numbers of bikes available and empty racks for each one in real time. Do this throughout the day and you will see some stations are constantly busy, others less so, and there are peak times. I don't know why TfL would lie about bike availability, as it is relayed to every docking station and helps them coordinate the service, move bikes around according to demand etc, so I assume the data to be correct.

As it happens I cycle past about 10 docking stations on my commute each day, there are always empty slots, some often have almost no bikes available. The scheme seems popular to me, especially given it is only a few months old. I can only see it growing.

And as far as the previous comment goes, if we're comparing this to a £664 bus pass, why not just buy your own bike?! This is why in my opinion the scheme is dead in the water.

If this were true, then the schemes would not have been a success in the cities where this has been running for years - Paris and Lyon, for example.

Purchasing your own bike is, in the long run, more cost effective but it is not always practical to use your own bike and I have already experienced times when I am in the city centre, having got there by train, and wished I had registered for the scheme so that I didn't have to walk or use the tube. For those that are new to cycling this gives them the perfect means to try it and perhaps they will go on to buy their own bike in the future – it worked for me having taken the plunge with the Velib in Paris and thoroughly enjoying myself, despite having little clue of French road regulations and French in general. I am sure there are also some who can't be asked with the hassle of owning a bike - maintenance, storage, risk of theft etc and will happily rely on the scheme as and when it suits them to get around.